Windies run through England tail
LONDON, Sept 1 — The West Indies ran through the England tailenders today after a lengthy rain break hampered their victory bid in the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval.

BCCI to hire professionalsJAIPUR, Sept 1 — India’s cricket board is to undergo a shake-up with the introduction of professionals to help administer an organisation previously served mainly by volunteers.

OCA yet to take a decisionNEW DELHI, Sept 1—The Olympic Council of Asia
(OCA) has not yet taken a final decision to shift the 2002 Asian Games from Pusan in South Korea, to some other venue, though South Korea have not given any firm commitment regarding the hosting of the games, by fulfilling certain assurances they had given to the
OCA. This was stated here today by chairman of OCA’s bidding committee for the 2006 Asian Games, Brig Latif Butt of Pakistan.

Cathy Freeman may not go for double goldCATHY Freeman’s bid to try and win two gold at Sydney remain a dream because she will be advised against adding the 200m to her Olympic programme despite beating world 200m champion Inger Miller in her final pre-Games race last week.

Henman’s patience pays off
NEW YORK, Sept 1 — One year ago at the US Open, Tim Henman was already packing his bags for a return trip home to England after being shocked by obscure Argentine Guillermo Canas.

Pak ‘sex
scandal’ report on SundayKARACHI, Sept 1 — Brigadier (retd) Khawaja Nasir, who
is investigating into the allegations of immoral behaviour by three
young cricketers of the Pakistan team, will submit his report to the
cricket board (PCB) on Sunday.

Punjab go down to MPIMPHAL, Sept 1 — Holders Punjab lost to last year’s
runners-up Madhya Pradesh by 16-21 in the quarterfinal match of the
23rd Junior Girls National Handball Championship 2000 here yesterday.

Anna Kournikova of Russia hits a return during her match with Sandra Kleinova of the Czech Republic at the U.S. Open in New York,
on Thursday. Kournikova won 6-4 6-1.— Reuters

Wrestling coach
sackedPATIALA, Sept 1 — With barely a couple of days to go before the two — members Olympic bound wrestling squad was scheduled to leave the NIS for New Delhi, en route to Sydney, the Wrestling Federation of India
(WFI) dropped a bombshell by suddenly giving the sack orders to renowned wrestling coach Randhir Singh Panghal from the post of chief coach of the Olympic-bound squad.

Rowing academy for ChandigarhCHANDIGARH, Sept 1 — A rowing academy of regional level will be established at Chandigarh in collaboration with the Sports Authority of India, according to Brig KPS
Deo, president, Rowing Federation of India.

It was a one-hour, 43-minute upset yesterday at the hands of Clement, aged 22 and a loser to Agassi both previous times they had met. Those encounters came at the two Grand Slams that Agassi won in 1999, Paris and New York.

The usually talkative Agassi, holder here and looking for his second Grand Slam crown of the season after Australia in January, had little to say about the defeat.

The 30-year-old American had broken to love to start, but immediately went off the boil against a challenger who habitually wears sunglasses in all weather along with a bandana.

“He picked up game, I didn’t step it up,” said the American “He played bigger. I never raised by level. It was a brutal day — he was beating me in a lot of departments.”

Agassi insisted that the back problems which had plagued him on and off since June had nothing to do with the defeat. His second in the second round at a Slam he had won the previous year.

“It wasn’t a good summer, it ended the way it started.”

On the way down and out, Agassi saved four match points, one game after Clement had moved into winning position with a third-set break for 5-4. But a return into the net from the American gave the Frenchman his fifth chance, which he took as Agassi netted.

“I was trying to figure out how to get to him and I couldn’t,” said Agassi, still saying he would defend his Olympic gold medal in Sydney next month.

Agassi began well, breaking for a 3-1 lead over a man he had beaten both previous times they had met. But Clement began to methodically close the gap and took the first set in a surprise.

The second set was no consolation for the American. He was broken in the first game and dropped serve in the fifth as the French challenger (22) took a two-sets-to-one lead.

Through the first two sets, the top seed seemed distracted, with only eight winners and 16 unforced errors.

Agassi recovered as he tried to stop the rot, holding in the first game of the third until Clement once again assumed ultimate command.

The winner had 36 winners and 27 unforced errors, the same as Agassi, who managed just six aces to Clement’s dozen.

The loss means that the top two seeds on the men’s side — Gustavo Kuerten lost in the first round — are gone and the way is looking good for number 4 Pete Sampras, now into the third round.

The vaunted Indian doubles duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes tasted a rare early defeat at the US Open Tennis Championships yesterday, falling to Jamie Oncins of Brazil and Argentine Daniel Orsanic.

Bhupathi and Paes, doubles finalists in every Grand Slam last year and winners of the French Open and Wimbledon titles, lost 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in the first-round match.

The Indians had decided to go their separate ways after last season’s US Open final, but rejoined forces to chase after a medal at the Sydney Olympics.

LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) — The West Indies ran through the England tailenders today after a lengthy rain break hampered their victory bid in the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval.

At tea, England were 281 all out after being asked to bat on Thursday but the rain had begun to fall again and the prospects of much further play were doubtful.

Ten minutes’ play were lost before lunch and 108 minutes afterwards as heavy showers swept across south London, frustrating the West Indies who must win to preserve their 31-year unbeaten series record against England.

After play had begun on time in the last Test of the English summer, a stubborn sixth-wicket partnership of 40 between Graham Thorpe and Graeme Hick held up the West Indies for 90 minutes, including the rain break.

The pair took the overnight total of 221 for five to 254 when Hick fell lbw to Curtly Ambrose for 17. Courtney Walsh then captured his first wicket of the match when he deceived Thorpe for the second time in the series with a well-disguised slower ball.

Thorpe, who had compiled a painstaking 40 in 203 minutes from 159 balls, instinctively ducked when the ball appeared to be in line with his forehead, only to find it dipping suddenly to hit his front foot right in front of the stumps. The appeal was a formality and the surrey left-hander did not wait for the decision from Australian umpire Daryl Harper.

Nixon McLean, the most successful of the West Indies’ pacemen on the first day, took over from Ambrose at the pavilion end and responded by capturing the wicket of Dominic Cork, lbw without scoring. It was the fifth lbw decision of the match so far, indicating the bounce was low and batting more difficult than it had looked when Michael Atherton (83) and Marcus Trescothick (78) put on 159 for the first wicket.

Andy Caddick drew a cheer with the first boundary of the day, cracking Walsh to the cover boundary. They were his only runs as he became the world record holder’s second victim of the innings when an attempted hook flew comfortably to Wavell Hinds at square leg.

Darren Gough swung his bat cheerfully, connecting with one lusty pull to the square-leg boundary and in partnership with Yorkshire team-mate Craig White took the score to 281 before he was clean-bowled by Walsh.

JAIPUR, Sept 1 (Reuters) — India’s cricket board is to undergo a shake-up with the introduction of professionals to help administer an organisation previously served mainly by volunteers.

“The need for restructuring and running the day-to-day affairs of the BCCI by hiring professionals was felt for a long time,” board treasurer Kishor Rungta said.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is one of the nation’s richest sporting bodies, and earlier this year faced a court case from fans who alleged it lacked transparency in accounts and election procedures. The board denied wrongdoing.

“Work in the BCCI has increased manifold in recent times and it is not possible to run the organisation with honorary officials located in different parts of the country,” Rungta said.

He said the board would initially hire professionals to handle media, general administration and commercial work, besides jobs related to umpiring, tours and tournaments. They would be based in Bombay.

BCCI is registered as a limited company, but its profits which jumped by 28.5 per cent last year, is exempt from income-tax, Rungta said.

He said the board controlled Rs 1.16 billion ($25.4 million) in term deposits, and has a five-year television rights contract worth 420 million rupees per year with Prasar Bharati, which supervises state-run Doordarshan television.

Rungta said the hired professionals would work under guidelines given by the board.

“The honorary members would still have the last say and the professionals would only execute the task given to them by the board” he said.

NEW DELHI, Sept 1—The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has not yet taken a final decision to shift the 2002 Asian Games from Pusan in South Korea, to some other venue, though South Korea have not given any firm commitment regarding the hosting of the games, by fulfilling certain assurances they had given to the OCA. This was stated here today by chairman of OCA’s bidding committee for the 2006 Asian Games, Brig Latif Butt of Pakistan.

Brig Butt, who is also the secretary-general of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), said a decision of shifting of the 2002 Asiad from Pusan, would be taken at the OCA General Council meeting, to be held in Turkmenistan, some time in November (the date is yet to be fixed).

The OCA general council meeting was scheduled to be held in Pusan on November 11 and 12 but the Executive Board, which met in Tashkent on August 27, decided to shift the venue as South Korea had failed to come up with a firm commitment about the Asiad, by fulfilling all the assurances they had given at the time of securing the bid in 1996.

Brig Butt said Korea had pipped Taiwan to the 2002 Asiad bid by promising to provide free air fare, boarding and lodging to all the participants and officials “and a substantial amount to the OCA as Foundation Fund for the benefit of the OCA member-countries”.

“But Korea have failed to give a firm commitment about fulfilling their promises in three General Council meetings of the OCA. That’s why the Executive Board is sore with them, and we will give them another chance (at the Turkmenistan General Council meeting) and if they still fail to convince the OCA about their commitments and intentions, their Asiad bid will be cancelled”, Brig Butt told this correspondent.

He said if Pusan’s bid was cancelled, India “have a certain edge over the others as New Delhi has 80 per cent of the infrastructure ready, and it’s a central place”.

Brigadier Butt, who was actually the chairman of the bidding committee for the 2006 Asian Games, for which India, along with Doha, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur are in the fray, but will also have a decisive say in the selection of the venue for the 2002 Games, if South Korea back out, said another advantage in favour of India is that the country would be hosting the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in November 2001, and the infrastructure for hockey, football, swimming, boxing, tennis and weightlifting will be firmly in place by then, much ahead of the Asian Games.

Brigadier Butt is in Delhi to discuss the dates for the South Asian Federation Games to be hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad in 2001, with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), in view of India hosting the Afro-Asian Games next year. “We don’t want any clash of dates”, he said.

Meanwhile, sources in the IOA said India would be too happy to host the 2002 Asiad instead of the 2006 Games, as the former will land on the lap of the country without much effort if Korea back out, and therefore, would be in a better position to bargain regarding the facilities to be provided to the athletes and officials, than the 2006 Asiad.

India will have to make considerable concessions to bag the 2006 Asiad bid. The IOA would gladly grab the offer to host the 2002 Games. If South Korea fail to convince the OCA about their intentions, for a last time, at the Turkmenistan meeting.

Malhotra, ranked 346 in the world, was lucky to keep the Indian challenge alive despite committing as many as 19 double faults before beating fourth seed Thai Wang I-Ting (ranked 487)in an absorbing first semifinal by 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(8-6), which lasted for two hours and 40 minutes.

PONDICHERRY, Sept 1 (PTI) — Maharashtra boys and girls entered the final of the sub-junior national basketball championship defeating defending champion Punjab and Uttar Pradesh,
respectively. Maharashtra boys defeated Punjab 51-33 and will take on Rajasthan in the final, while the girls trounced Uttar Pradesh 51-22, to set up a title clash with holders Madhya
Pradesh. Maharashtra boys dominated their match against Punjab from the start and increased their margin with each quarter of play. Manish Singh (17) and Ansari Siraj (12) top scored for the winners, while Manavdeep netted eight points for
Punjab. In the second semifinals, Rajasthan beat Mizoram 42-37. Though they had a one point lead in the first quarter (6-5), Mizoram outsmarted them in the second and third. But Rajasthan came back strongly and dashed Mizoram’s hopes in the fourth quarter. Bhupender (14) and Rajender (12) were the main scorers for Rajasthan, while Mapuia (10) top scored for
Mizoram. In the first girls semifinals, Maharashtra outplayed Uttar Pradesh 51-22, after leading from the beginning. Priyanka (10) shone well for the
winners. Title holders Madhya Pradesh thrashed Kerala 37-9 in another one-sided match. Kerala girls, who initially put up some resistance, scored all the points in the first two quarters, but were clueless in the next two sessions. Masrat (10) top scored for the winners.

CATHY Freeman’s bid to try and win two gold at Sydney remain a dream because she will be advised against adding the 200m to her Olympic programme despite beating world 200m champion Inger Miller in her final pre-Games race last week. Dressed in a new head-to-toe silver bodysuit to ward off the cold and wet English summer conditions in Gateshead, Freeman was seven metres off the pace coming into the home straight. Showing true grit and speed, she then clawed back Miller and world championship silver medallist Beverly McDonald of Jamaica to win in 22.57s, her fastest 200m time in two years. But Freeman’s performance, posted in pouring rain, was not sufficient to convince Australian team management that she should be named as the third and final Olympic 200m sprinter behind team-mates Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and Lauren Hewitt.

Athletics Australia would rather have Freeman concentrate on winning medals in the 400m and the 400m relay to support the team’s estimated target of six medals.

Adding the 200m to her schedule, which would require her to run another four races over three days, could exhaust Freeman and leave her flat for the relay final, where she is expected to anchor Australia to a top-three finish. Nor was there strong support for Freeman’s rival former hockey gold medallist turned athlete Nova Peris-Kneebone to fill the open 200m berth as it could clutter her 400m individual programme as well as her 100m and 400m relay duties. Front-runners Freeman and Peris-Kneebone both leading Aboriginal athletes said they wanted to run the 200m - a sight which would delight Olympic ticket holders - after the third 200m position was left open when the Australian team was named. Both said they would abide by the team management’s decision, which could be delayed until they have completed their individual 400m duties as there is a rest day between the 400m final and the 200m heats.

Marathon man back

Some Olympic heroes are never heard of, even if they are appearing in their fifth straight Olympics. We are taking a span of 20 years here, over three decades. Greek water polo captain George Mavrotas is hoping that his fifth and final Olympic Games will be his most successful. The 33-year-old Games veteran and his team arrived in Perth on Wednesday and will train there until September 11. Mavrotas competed in his first Olympics as a 17-year-old in Los Angeles in 1984. He said the excitement of being at an Olympic Games had not faded with the years.

“Every time you go to the Olympic Games is like going for the first time,” he said. “Every time is a new experience. It is the centre of the world for 15 days and you are part of this event.” Shortlisted to carry the flag for Greece in the opening ceremony, Mavrotas was philosophical about his chances. “I feel very comfortable being with my team in the opening ceremony, so there is no problem,” he said. Mavrotas will retire after Sydney, despite the attraction of competing at home in Athens in 2004. “Athens is a great motivation”, he said. “But I will be too old at 37. There are a lot of young players who could, of course, play better than me after four years.” Mavrotas, who has a PhD in chemical engineering, is also looking forward to furthering his professional career. He said Sydney had created a wonderful impression among Greeks as an Olympic venue. “Sydney is one of the best cities I have ever seen and the Australian people are very kind and hospitable,” he said. “I am sure that from every point of view these Games will be perfect . . .and I want them to be perfect because they are my last.” Mavrotas said the team’s first and biggest challenge in Sydney would be to reach the final round as one of the eight qualifiers. Greece was in a strong draw, with Hungary, Yugoslavia, Croatia and the USA. Other Greek competitors from track and field, boxing, shooting, synchronised swimming and taekwondo are also using Perth as an Olympic training base.

“Fat, unfit, overtrained and mad”

Triathlon is making its debut at the Sydney Games and there is great hype mainly because the hosts are hot favourites to take out most of the medals in both the men’s and women’s events. However, the tough ironman’s world of triathlon has hit a controversy with Australia’s Olympic cycling medallist and former world champion Martin Vinnicombe facing a possible ban from the Games after describing Australia’s Olympic triathletes as fat, unfit, overtrained and mad. Vinnicombe, now the coach of Australia’s triathlon medal hope Peter Robertson, has been asked by the Australian Olympic Committee and Triathlon Australia (TA) to account for comments he made in The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday.

In the Herald article, Vinnicombe described one of Australia’s leading triathletes, Miles Stewart, as fat with “hog jowls” and a double chin, and fellow Olympic team member Craig Walton as top heavy. “I honestly believe most Australian triathletes don’t know what they are doing,” Vinnicombe said. “There are a lot of people who have been in the sport for a long time and they’ve got their ideas, but I think, actually, most of them are mad. They do too much training, and that’s why they’re all damaged.” TA chief Tim Wilson said Vinnicombe’s comments had dragged the new Olympic sport of triathlon and the Australian team into disrepute. TA and the AOC has therefore asked Vinnicombe to account for his criticism. If they are not satisfied with his response, Vinnicombe’s request for Olympic accreditation as a coach may be denied.

TA has also expressed concerns in the past about Robertson’s association with Vinnicombe, who tested positive to anabolic steroids in 1991 while he was active in world cycling. Vinnicombe’s outburst has served to further damage a young sport which has been brought to its knees by a five-month legal battle over the selection of the Australian women’s Olympic team. The women’s Olympic triathlon race on September 16 is the first medal sport of the Games. —
PMG

NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) — One year ago at the US Open, Tim Henman was already packing his bags for a return trip home to England after being shocked by obscure Argentine Guillermo Canas.

Yesterday, after running through Chilean Fernando Gonzalez 6-3 6-4 6-2, the genteel but driven Brit wasn’t considering which airport he should fly out of, but how he would attack his next opponent, former Wimbledon champ Richard Krajicek.

The number six seeded Henman is enjoying his best season ever on hard court, having won 13 of his last 16 matches.

Away from the pressures of the All-England Club, the vintage serve-and-volleyer is so at ease with himself that he casually joked about playing in the loud and sometimes crazy confines of the grandstand court, where on Thursday, he had to contend with flying objects.

“All the courts are pretty distracting here. That’s the first time I’ve seen people throwing walking sticks on the court,” Henman said. “It was a huge metal thing. It landed on a lady’s shoulder. She was pretty lucky. If it hit her on the head, it would have been a different story.”

Henman said the key to his success this summer is sticking with his career plan, which is to maintain patience with his game and wait for it to flourish.

“I haven’t done anything differently, but I’ve continued to do the right things and improved,” said Henman, who beat longtime nemesis Pete Sampras for the first time two weeks ago en route to reaching the final in Cincinnati.

“It was definitely frustrating for me in the beginning of the year when I gave myself opportunities and wasn’t able to take advantage of them.”

“I can’t second guess myself. I did everything I could, but it didn’t go my way.... Now I’m a little more confident. You get into some tight situations against good players and things start to go your way.”

“It’s a question of not having any letups and continuing to work at what I’m trying to achieve.”

While the 25-year-old isn’t physically strong enough to trade huge body blows with legions of tough baseliners, he is cagey enough to wait for opportunities to charge into the net, where he is capable of dominating.

KARACHI, Sept 1 (PTI) — Brigadier
(retd) Khawaja Nasir, who is investigating into the allegations of immoral behaviour by three young cricketers of the Pakistan team, will submit his report to the cricket board (PCB) on Sunday.“Brigadier Nasir has nearly completed his inquiry into the scandal and would be submitting his report on Sunday,” Yawar
Saeed, Director Cricket Operations, said.“The board Chairman will announce the outcome of the inquiry on the same day,” Saeed
added.Meanwhile, PCB Chairman Lt General Tauqir Zia has hinted that the three — Shahid
Afridi, Hasan Raza and Atiquz Zaman — may be cleared of the allegations.“So far no evidence had been found linking the three with behaviour unbecoming of a player,” he said.

From the beginning, Punjab was trailing though there were three players who represented India at the international level. Four national ranking players who represented India at international meets were in the Madhya Pradesh team.

NEW DELHI, Sept 1 — The second batch of the Indian contingent will leave for the Olympic Games in Sydney early on Saturday morning.

The second batch will include rowers Kasam Khan and Inder Pal Singh, shooters Abhinav Bindra and Anjali Ved Pathak, boxers Gurcharan Singh, Jitender Kumar, Dingko Singh and Suresh Singh, table tennis players S. Raman, Chetan Baboor and Poulomi Ghatak and 12 officials. Another shooter, Anwar Sultan, will leave for Sydney from Italy, where he is now undergoing training. The table tennis players will halt at Hong Kong, and will train with the host team for 10 days, before leaving for Sydney.

The Indian Olympic Association gave a warm send-off to the second batch here today.

PATIALA, Sept 1 — With barely a couple of days to go before the two — members Olympic bound wrestling squad was scheduled to leave the NIS for New Delhi, en route to Sydney, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) dropped a bombshell by suddenly giving the sack orders to renowned wrestling coach Randhir Singh Panghal from the post of chief coach of the Olympic-bound squad.

The lone grappler selected for the Sydney Olympics is Gurvinder Singh, who will be competing in the greco-roman event in the 63-kg weight category. The grappler qualified for the Olympics by virtue of winning his event in the Asian Wrestling Championships held at Seoul from April 23 to May 8. The Asian meet was the last pre-Olympic qualifying championships for qualification to Sydney.

Subsequent to Randhir Singh’s removal, the WFI has asked senior SAI coach Harbogind Singh to fill in the slot. Interestingly, both Hargobind Singh and Gurvinder Singh are Faridkot based and, in fact, Gurvinder Singh initiated into wrestling by none other than Hargobind SIngh.

The WFI President, Mr G.S. Mandher, faxed the sack orders of Randhir Singh to the NIS authorities late last evening.The camp which had commenced here on August 1, was to run till September 10. However, now the date of the camp are likely to be rescheduled.

A visibly upset Randhir Singh confirmed the development of his removal, but declined to to into the details leading to his removal.

Sources reveal that the day Gurvinder Singh was assured of a place in the Olympics, Mr Mandher wrote to the IOA confirming Randhir Singh’s appointment as chief coach to accompany Gurvinder Singh to Sydney.

Gurvinder was under the tutelage of Randhir Singh prior to the Seoul Asian at the camp held in Pune. However, when contacted Gurvinder Singh said that he had written several letters to the WFI regarding his uneasiness in training under Randhir Singh.

CHANDIGARH, Sept 1 — A rowing academy of regional level will be established at Chandigarh in collaboration with the Sports Authority of India, according to Brig KPS Deo, president, Rowing Federation of India.

The former Union Minister was here to attend the executive committee meeting of the RFI. Sukhna Lake will be the venue for the forthcoming Junior Asian Rowing Meet in December. Brigadier Deo said six lanes in the water channel were ready but five lanes would be used for meet.

Brigadier Deo also revealed that in the previous Asian meets in China and South Korea, four lanes were used. General (Retd) Mulakjit Singh Kandal, who organised the first-ever national rowing meet at Pune in 1977 and was now settled in the city would help the organisers of the forthcoming Asian championship.

Earlier, Chandigarh had successfully organised Asian rowing meets in 1989 and 1994. At present 20 boats were available at the lake, but an additional 24 new boats would be procured through SAI which would reach here by November this year.

Regarding the proposed academy, Brigadier Deo said the RFI would be approaching the corporate office at New Delhi but it could be possible only if the UT Administration allotted one more acre near the lake. He said local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal had agreed to give Rs 20 lakh out of the local area development plan fund for this academy.

ROHTAK, Sept 1— Faridabad won the Haryana State Inter-District (under-19) Cricket Championship which concluded at Vishwakarma Stadium here today. Faridabad defeated Gurgaon by nine wickets in the final. Gurgaon won the toss and were dismissed for 88 in 32.1 overs. Raj Kumar was the highest scorer with 31. Yogesh Virmani took four wickets conceding only 17 runs in nine overs. Iresh and Ajit returned an identical analysis of two wickets each at the cost of one run.

In reply Faridabad reached the target in 24 overs losing the wicket of opener Gaurav Sharma at an individual score of 21. Ishan Ganda and Maninder Bisla scored unbeaten 36 and 29 runs, respectively. Incidentally Faridabad won all their matches by an identical margin of nine wickets.

Football meetTribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 1 — The Fatehgarh Sahib District Football association is organising the district football championship here from September 29 to October 1. Entries close on September 7, according to Mr Randhir Singh
Cheema, president, District Football Association.